


a twist of destiny

by illrunwithyou



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, I put the warning just in case, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, bang chan is the prince, changbin is a knight, jisung is his brother, mentions of a mentally unstable child, mentions of torture, minho is a thieve, not sure how graphic though, please dont read if you are sensitive to the topics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-18 01:30:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21519691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illrunwithyou/pseuds/illrunwithyou
Summary: In the SKZ kingdom, Chan was the sole heir to the throne, but that was changed when Jisung, brother of Chan’s main knight and best friend Changbin, came face to face with the commoner Minho.OrThe lost prince AU that no one asked for
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 16
Kudos: 42





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo
> 
> There are mentions of child abuse here so please be aware! 
> 
> I am sorry if any medical details are inaccurate. 
> 
> This story will be my first chaptered fic because I need to find motivation to write lmao. I think I will probably update this story every month or so. 
> 
> In other news, this was inspired by many many many lost princes/princesses troupe. I am excited for skz's lightstick to dropp and I hope you all enjoy this story! 
> 
> Also, I don't know if I should add the other skz characters, so please let me know if I should!

_One of the oldest tales the boys were told growing up was the tale of the lost prince. He was born healthy and happy but with an incurable disease that gave him constant, intense stomach aches._

_Despite this, the king and queen still loved their beautiful little boy. He had eyes as wide as saucers and gorgeous dimples in his chubby cheeks. He was born with a full head of luscious, soft black hair. The baby was most known for bringing the distinctive smell of fresh linen wherever he went, thus earning him the name of Lino, Prince Lino._

_When the boy was nearing his first birthday and the royal family, consisting of the king, queen, older prince Chan and young prince Lino, had taken a trip to a neighboring country to talk alliances, the queen had accidentally left Prince Lino on the tourist carriage. In a hurried frantic, the family halted all activities to conduct numerous searches for the lost prince. But all the searches turned up empty handed. The young prince had never been found._

15 year old Changbin ended the story in a dramatic voice, like the other 200 times he told the story to his 12 year old brother Jisung. 

“Tell it again, tell it again, tell it again!” Jisung jumped onto the magnificent couch and whined, flailing his limbs wildly, the newly tailored knight clothes still stiff on the young boy. 

Changbin had frowned and swatted at his brother’s head, movements relaxed in a similar knight clothes, exclaiming that that was enough stories for the day, but seeing his brother’s exaggerated pout, he couldn’t help but give in by diverting the attention to Chan and asking him if he remember anything about the lost prince. 

Unable to resist Jisung’s puppy eyes, Chan raked through his memory and proclaimed, “the only thing I remember was his eyes. They were so bright, reflecting all the light in the room. Also, he smelled like fresh laundry.” 

Chan looked lovingly around the room. They were in the nursery of the royal lost prince. The entire room was lined with a deep maroon velvet, with paintings with gold framing lining the walls, paintings that Chan knew that his little brother would have loved to stare at with his disk-like shimmering eyes. There was a gorgeous velvet couch at the edge of the room with plush throw pillows that Chan could picture his little Lino bouncing on, the most beautiful smile on his face. A crib with tall velvet curtains draped over the sides was the centerpiece of the room, soft to the touch, and Chan just knew that Lino would have been all over the drapes, spreading his saliva and grubby little germs onto his mom’s pressed curtains. A mobile the size of the ceiling was placed strategically, spinning as if the constellations and planets would, revolving around Lino as if he were the sun. The entire ceiling had taken a week to paint, and it was painted with incredible accuracy. 

Chan sighed, he wished his brother were still here. The room lay empty, collecting dust for years until several years ago, his mother realized that they could not let the room collect dust, thus allowing the three children to play inside the room.

“Unlike you, Jisung, you only smelled like poop and vomit” 

“Nuh uh, you are the one mom says stinks all the time!”

Changbin stuck his tongue out and leaps off the couch, “last one to the study has to clean the bathroom” 

———————-

“Captain, do I really have to do this? I really don’t want to, my back still hurts” 

“Do you really want to be eating Missy’s porridge for dinner?”

At the thought of Missy’s bland rice porridge that was nearly thinner than water and smelt like it was going sour, 11 year old Minho mustered up his courage and used the back of his dirty hand to wipe his dirty mouth, the action only smearing his face even further. 

“NOW”

The frantic voice along with the hand shoved him from behind the corner and Minho stumbled across the street where a street vendor was selling fresh picked fruits.

At the sickeningly sweet smell of the fruits, Minho’s stomach churned from not eating for days as he had only just gotten out of prison and they would not let have a drop of food. The smell made him nauseous and he could feel tears rising up in his throat. Forced to choke down both, he set his sight on the fruit and picked up a couple, preparing for his big break. As always, the mat under his bare foot slid out and his thin frame slammed into the entire fruit cart, squishing the plump fruit and shattering the meek wooden cart. 

As he struggled to get up, he purposefully reached for another cart and fell against it, smashing that cart too. His clothes were now soaked with fruit juice and he could feel redness creep up his cheeks. 

As the shop owner yelled about his broken carts and the sappy mess he was laying in, and seemingly everyone in the market had gathered around them, Minho saw the Captain sneaking into another shop to grab the food supplies they needed. 

_At least my own humiliation and pain is put to good use_ , Minho thought bitterly as the fruit juice soaked through his torn clothes, _This is going to leave a smell, I need to clean this before Missy finds out_. Minho shivers as he thinks about Missy’s wrath. The locals mistaken his shivers for the cold and smiled mischievously, continuing to berate him and his stupidity. 

As the Captain gives him the okay to leave, Minho pulls himself up from the sopping mess that is now his clothes. He is thinking about his escape route out of this mob before a familiar hand rests on his shoulder and a familiar voice says

“Not so fast, boy. You are coming with me.”


	2. ii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THERE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF A CHILD BEING TORTURED AND WHIPPED AS PUNISHMENT! PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
> 
> hellooo, I’m back earlier than expected lol cuz I didn’t have school all this week. 
> 
> In other news, im happy Minho is walking againnnn, it made me sad to see him sit during AAA :((. 
> 
> Also, I promise other chapters won’t be as bad as this one in terms of graphic descriptions. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy :))

“Take off your shirt” The town’s sheriff ordered, the owner of the hand that settled on Minho’s thin shoulder after the staged thievery. 

The Captain and Missy had done this often, asking him to act helpless and clumsy as he tries to steal from a local vendor. They then took the opportunity, as the majority of the market crowded around him, to steal food, mostly different types of bread, milk, and desserts. 

Minho was tired, tired of the number of times he was forced to be taken to the sheriff’s, tired of the fact that he knew the faces of each sheriff, and tired of the fact that he was always punished for the wrongdoings of the Captain and Missy.

“Take off your shirt” The sheriff repeated.

This sheriff wasn’t his favorite, he was the meanest one, the one who was the most cruel and had not shown an ounce of pity each time he carried out a punishment. In some sick way, this sheriff even enjoyed it. 

Slowly, Minho eased off his shirt and the sheriff did not even flinch at the sight of his swollen stomach and back, angry red lines like fault lines stretching over the expanse of his back, skin that was rough from repeated injury and healing, bruises upon bruises that painted vivid pictures of black, purple, green, and yellow across Minho’s bony back, bruises from too harsh grips of the sheriffs on the tiny boy’s thin arms. 

Minho sniffed as he was carelessly thrown into the whipping chamber. It smelt like human waste as the fear the room elicited typically made inmates lose control of their systems. The room was made of cold, gray concrete splattered with dried blood that no one bothered to clean. The room was void of furniture. There was a single lightbulb in the entire room, one that casted a yellow-ish light over the depressing room. 

_**WHACK** _

The first whip forced him onto his knees, immediately bringing stinging tears to his eyes. His arms automatically went up to protect his head, pathetically trying to protect the only part of him that had no scars. 

_**WHACK** _

The second whip forced the breath out of him, forcing him to scramble into a cold, hard corner. The sheriff maliciously stomped towards him with the whip gripped threateningly in his hand.

“I’ll show you what happens to those who do not obey”

_**WHACK** _

With the third whip, Minho started seeing stars, stars that danced in and out of his vision as he felt the ground beneath him shift and fall away. The sheriff took advantage of the dazed child and mercilessly unleashed a fury of whips on the frail body.

“Who”

_**WHACK** _

“Even”

_**WHACK** _

“Are”

_**WHACK** _

“You”

_**WHACK** _

“You”

_**WHACK** _

“Imbecile”

_**WHACK** _

“You were kindly accepted into the home of the renowned Captain and his wife. How could you disappoint them?! Getting into trouble with the law. Over. And. Over”

_**WHACK** _

With his vision gone spotty, and his back covered in blood, Minho choked on his sobs, “I didn’t mean to. I promise. I promise I will be good. Please. PLEASE STOP” 

As usual, no one heard. The sheriff’s smirk only got wider.

“No one will hear you down here, a place fit only for attention-seekers, trouble-makers like you”

Minho couldn’t help it, he screamed, wailed, cried for someone, anyone to come, even if it were the Captain, even if it were Missy, even if she was force-feeding him her disgusting porridge, even if he were eating plain bread and nearly-sour milk, even if he were vomiting uncontrollably afterwards, even if he was bedridden from the stomach pains. 

After the twelfth whiplash, the blissful darkness finally took him, and he passed out.

———————-

As the three boys pranced through the halls trying to catch each other, one of the maids making the beds of the numerous master bedrooms of the castle stopped them, shushing the prince and the child knights quietly. 

“The king and queen has asked for silence in the halls”

She leaned over and whispered into Changbin’s ear. The effect on the little knight was drastic. His playful smile was replaced by a stoic look, his body straightened out, and with it, he unwrinkled his clothing. 

His goofy voice was replaced by a hardened tone, monotone and devoid of emotion, “Prince, the queen has requested your presence in the throne room immediately.”

Mirroring his change in attitude and posture, Chan straightened up to receive the message, “Understood, thank you. You may leave.”

Changbin stiffly bowed his head, and walked back down the hallway. In awe over such a quick reaction, Jisung quickly bowed his head and ran to his brother. 

———————-

Chan knocked on the double doors that lead to the throne room before he heard a soft yet commanding “Come in”. 

A soft smile graced his mother’s face as she saw her son, young and handsome, “Ah, yes, my dear prince.” Her hands paused from folding clothes into a bag, 

“Your majesty. Your majesty” Chan bowed then turned to face his father, his big back leaning over his desk, piled high with papers. 

“Chan, please rise” his mother called, voice filled with authority. 

“You asked to see me?”

“Yes, my boy, your father and I are going out of town for several days, so I expect you to keep a close eye on the kingdom.”

“Yes ma’am”

“Silly me, I shouldn’t be worrying, we go on this trip every few years. You can handle this kingdom. Afterall, it will be going to you.” WIth that, the king turned around, ruffling Chan’s hair in agreement with his life. 

Chan beamed proudly and pulled both his parents into a tight hug, “Even if it’s for a few days, I will miss you both so much”

They all smiled and let go, saying their goodbyes and unwrapping their arms from each other. 

———————-

“Good, you are awake now” The sheriff’s callous voice was the first thing that pierced through his hazy mind. 

Minho didn’t know how long he had been lying on the concrete floor, but just as he opening his eyes, the sheriff had roughly lifted him up by one arm and threw him out the door. Minho crumpled into a pile outside the gray room, too weak to support his own weight with his malnourished body. 

“Get up, no one is being paid to babysit you,” 

Minho scrambled to his feet, arms blindly reaching around to grab anything to support him, eventually settling upon a nearby chair. He felt tiny in the chair, back curled against the tough wood, legs tucked under his body, little arms clutched against an armrest three times its size. 

“I just need your caretakers to fill out this paperwork and you are free to go.”

Minho croaked, his voice screamed raw from the whipping, “when...when are they coming to get me?”

He sneered, ignoring Minho as he turned back to his own desk. 

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours and three hours later, the Captain and Missy finally burst through the doors of the sheriff’s station. By then, Minho had been drifting in and out of consciousness, head feeling too heavy and too hot to be supported by his neck, his body feeling too hot yet too cold all at once. The station wasn’t staying on the ground, instead opting to tilt and spin in his field of vision. He couldn’t feel his body, couldn’t feel the searing pain of his wounds. He could only feel his internal temperature rising, contributing more to his feverish and delusional mind. 

Just as they finished the paperwork and called Minho to go home, Minho felt his ground slip away from his bare feet and he saw the darkness of the floor approaching before his feverish body hit the cold, unwelcoming ground.


	3. iii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long hehe. I was unmotivated these past few months and so much happened to skz and lots of other groups :((. But I finally have motivation now since my school is taking a break bc of current situations :)

The king and queen coming town was special for everyone, as everyone did their best to hide the dark sides of the town. Merchants cleaned up, a community effort was put into place for trash to be picked up, and inspirational banners were put up. 

The king and queen, of course, couldn't care less for these efforts as they were stuck inside for the majority of their trip, explaining to the mayor the different policies passed in the years they were not in contact. The mayor, in return, detailed their recent events in the town, designing them so they all seemed positive as not to worry the leaders with petty problems. Satisfied, the king and queen ended the meeting early and proceeded to board their carriage, working their way to their second destination, the modest home on the other side of town.

\-------

Three knocks broke through the family dinner. 

“I’ll get it” Missy called as she got up from her chair, wiping her mouth on a napkin. As soon as she opened the door and saw the king and queen, the napkin fell from her hand, immediately falling to the floor in a bow. 

At the sudden noise, the Captain ran to the door, falling to one knee, “Your highnesses, you have came. I welcome you into this modest place.” 

Laughing, the king waved the Captain up, hand around his wife as he led her into the house. The house was not luxurious but it was cozy with a warm fire brewing and the smell of porridge on the stove. 

“Might I offer you some lunch?”

“No need, I came to talk about….. you are aware.” 

“Yes sir,” the Captain looked warily at the bedroom door, Missy taking the hint and closing it with her foot, “he is currently out at the moment, playing with friends.” 

“Ah, I see” the King smiled, “I shall take my leave now, as I have no other business here” 

Just as the King and Queen made their farewells, a wet, loud, hacking cough sounded through the house. 

“Who is there?”

“No….no one, your highness” Captain and Mossy ran to cover up the bedroom door, using their bodies to block the entrance.

“Let me in or else I will not hesitate to use force” the King commanded, stomping towards the now open door. The queen hurried behind and her frightened gasp caused the boy in the bed to wince. 

He looked terrible with pale, slightly greenish complexion and a feverish flush in his cheeks. There was dried blood still coating his neck and hair matted down with sweat. His eyes were glassy, unseeing, and his whole body was wracked with trembles after each cough. 

The queen ran to his bedside, throwing off his blankets only to see his thin, bony body was covered in sweaty, dirty rags. With Minho struggling to pull the blankets back up to conceal and warm up his frighteningly icy frame, Missy stepped in and slapped his hand, the thin hand immediately falling away, and his eyes snapping half-open with a feverish gloss. 

“What is this?” The queen’s calm voice broke through the silence. Everyone in the room coward as the queen was known for her sweet personality, hard to anger but hard to console when angry. She turned around, venom dripping from her words, “did you not care for him?” 

Falling to their knees, Missy and the Captain started pleading, “please, we were doing our best, we were on a budget, we thought he was just goofing around before he got a fever.”

Furious, the king slammed his hand down against the wall, “THEN WHY DID YOU NOT ASK FOR HELP?! WE SET UP A FUND BETWEEN US FOR HIM FOR A REASON! YOU ARE BOTH SUCH NICELY DRESSED AND YOU TREAT A KING’S HEIR LIKE THIS?!”

“We did not know the fever would become so serious, w-we are so sorry” 

“Captain, you have been revoked of your rank and I will be taking my boy home. Tomorrow I will make the decision on whether or not you still get to keep this house. Make the necessary preparations,” 

—————————

The castle was quiet with the king and queen’s absence as it was study time for the boys. They were all in the study hall working on their homework with only the occasional spitball being thrown across the room. The teacher watching over their study hall could only smile at the site of the spitballs. Boys will continue to be boys, royal or not. 

A servant marched into the quiet study hall, whispering into the teacher’s ear. 

“Prince Chan, please report to the head knight” 

Sticking his tongue out at the other boys, Chan quickly packed up his pencils and ran to the knight quarters. 

“Good afternoon Prince Chan, your parents had some urgent news from the town they were visiting” 

Frightened, Chan sat onto the couch to brace himself. 

“You will be getting a new brother” 

“You-you’re joking right” 

“I certainly am not” 

“B-but how? My parents don’t want other children?”

“To my understanding, this boy was sent away at a young age due to an unknown medical condition but your parents decided that it is now time to bring him back home”

“The lost prince?”

The knight simply nodded, “they have instructed you to meet them outside the palace in 15 minutes in order to welcome this boy” 

——————-

“Where are they? Where are they!” Jisung bounced up and down outside the giant palace doors. 

Chuckling, Chan put his hands on the child’s shoulders, in attempt to keep him from flying, “they’re right there, do you not see them?” 

“Maybe if you grew taller” Changbin teased, leaping away from the boy as he charged after him. 

The boys were about to cause a ruckus before a knight shushed them, forcing them to stand back in the rigid position they were for an hour, wearing the uncomfortable clothes. 

A magnificent carriage came around the corner of the street, it’s top jiggling and bouncing along with the boys’ restless legs at the thought of meeting the lost prince. 

When the royal couple stepped out of the carriage, Chan had to resist the urge to run and hug his parents, remembering the situation and his position. After them came a royal guard holding a yellowing sheet with a sickly pale boy wrapped in it. All three adults looked frantic as they walked inside the castle. 

As they rushed past the boys with a rushed greeting and order to return themselves back to their quarters for additional orders, Chan could see some of the yellowish blanket falling off the thin boy’s shoulder, revealing a limp pale skinny arm with an array of colorful bruises painting his skin like a canvas. Keeping his hands over the eyes of Jisung, trying to protect his eyes from the horrid sight of a boy barely older than him, Chan finally realized the seriousness of the situation.


	4. iv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wasn't going to post it like this but I realized the last chapter was probably confusing so I decided to post this. 
> 
> I'll try to get the next chapter out as quickly as possible!!
> 
> Anyways, I hope everyone stays happy and healthy through times like this and support SKZ's japanese albummmmm.

This was Chan’s 67th time pacing back and forth outside the medic bay door. His parents had ordered him to wait there for the news but allowed Changbin and Jisung to go home as the younger boy was complaining of exhaustion. Chan’s body was heavy from exhaustion as well but he knew it was what was in front of him that was most important- his lost brother. He had endless visions of a healthy beautiful baby boy who had been accidentally lost by his parents, a set of gorgeously brown eyes and a laughter that brightened up the whole room, not this skeleton of a boy who needs intense medical attention. The image of the battered boy with yellowing skin kept flashing in his mind every time he sat down, forcing Chan to get up and continue pacing. 

The door opened with a creak, betraying the true age of the giant oak door with lavish decorations. His mother, the queen stepped out, and Chan kneeled before her, before she ushered him up and to sit on the bench. 

Splaying her dress out to sit on the bench next to him, she took Chan’s hand into her own frail ones, “I am sure you have many questions, and I am here to answer them, but first, let me tell you the story of when your brother was born,” 

——————

_Looking down at the gorgeous baby in her arms, she could not help but feel pride. She worked hard for this smile and she knew that he would be the best brother for Chan._

_“Your highness, do you have a name for your new bundle of joy?”_

_The smell of linen wafted through her nose as she smiled at her baby, “Lino, for that linen smell on his clothes, a simple name for this ball of sunshine.”_

_The baby was not even a month old before the medics started getting worried. The baby, born at a healthy weight, was steadily losing weight despite eating the regular amount. The problem was that the majority of the input ended up in his diaper. He had a constant upset stomach and could keep little to no milk down. On top of that, his cries woke the castle each night and would not cease._

_The medics took baby Lino in to examine him, only to find out that he had an incurable stomach disease. There was no cure, no treatment, there was not even a name for such a disease as it was so rare. He would grow up with the disease, weak and never able to live up to his stronger older brother. The queen was advised to give up her baby boy._

_At first, she refused adamantly, insisting that there had to be a way. They were the richest family in the country with all the means to find a cure._

_That was the beginning but as the months wore on and the baby only grew a mere few pounds, the queen started losing her willpower to fight for the boy. She had been to the research rooms and watched as medics poured over book after book in the library to find a cure for her baby boy._

_The queen was laying on the royal bed, tears silently streaming down her face, drenching her pillow._

_“Your highness, I know you are sad about Lino’s predicament but I may have a way to fix this,” a medic peeked through her door, timid as anyone would be for stepping into their bedroom._

_Immediately straightening up from her position, tears flying everywhere, “you do?! You found a way to cure my boy?”_

_“N-not quite your highness, but I have a friend who is a medic who lives in the countryside. You can have him take care of Prince Lino until he is older and we can find a cure for him. You and the king can check in on him periodically to make sure he is growing okay. It will give us more time to find a cure and you more time to spend attending to royal duties rather than caring for a sick child.”_

_“Won’t the normals think I am cruel for abandoning my child?”_

_“Your highness, you and the king could go to the village as your duty and bring the Prince. You can then “accidentally” lose the baby in the village then come back and declare him missing.” The medic has a wicked gleam in her eyes._

_“I-I will have to consider that. Thank you for your time, you may now take your leave.”_

_At night, when the royal couple were getting ready for bed, the queen spoke nervously, “a medic suggested we leave Lino at a medic in the village’s house then cover it up as we lost him. She said we could visit periodically and would free up time for both them and us.”_

_The king stopped drying his hair, putting down his towel, “so it has come to this. Abandoning our child.”_

_“It was just a suggestion-”_

_“I understand. In the best interest of everyone, I believe this is our only way out. Make amends to this immediately.”_

_The queen quickly rose from her place of the bed and gave directions to a nearby guard to spread the news that the king and queen will be going around the villages with the royal baby in a month._

_The month flew by and before they knew it, it was time to carry out the plan. The queen went to retrieve the baby from where a 4-year-old Chan was playing with him._

_Chan was blowing bubbles that fascinated baby Lino, grubby hands reaching out to pop the glittering bubbles. Laughing at his reaction when one exploded in his face, Chan reached out to blow more bubbles. Chan was the perfect older brother, caring, strong, unbelievably selfless and responsible. The queen did not have the heart to watch any longer._

_“Chan, I need to take Lino,”_

_Pouting, Chan whined, “Can’t you take me with you~?”_

_“No, we had a trip with you too when you were a baby, now it’s Lino’s turn,” The queen ruffled her other son’s hair._

_Standing up and putting his bubbles down, he reluctantly gave up his baby brother, “Be careful with him!”_

_Staring down at his brother who was cradled in his mom’s arms, he kissed him on the forehead, “I’ll see you when you get back, baby.”_

———————-

At this point, Chan was crying. He remembered his baby brother. He remembered how much it hurt when his mother told him they lost his brother. He had started sobbing on the spot, scratching at the walls as his mother hugged him and prevented him from running out to find his baby. He remembered the days of blowing bubbles alone where he last sat with his brother. He remembered going through his brother’s old clothes just to smell the linen scent, and he would sit with the clothes for hours and hours while he sobbed. 

“The searches for him, were they all a lie?” 

“Yes honey, when we published the story, it was a month after we left him and we simply told everyone we searched for him.” 

“Why couldn’t you even tell me? I’m your son.” 

“Yes, but you were so young at the time and the less who knew, the better.”

Sniffling, Chan looked up to his mother, “so, what happened to him?” 

Taking a deep breath, the queen continued, “we found him in the house, with a high fever and numerous injuries. We suspect that he was being abused.” 

Chan’s heart stopped in his throat. After learning of his brother’s disappearance, Chan always dreamed of finding him and meeting a tall, handsome boy with strong ideas and opinions. A sassy boy who excelled in all his subjects and dreamed of saving the world. Knowing that his baby brother’s future was taken away from him with the abuse suffered at the hands of several commoners made his blood boil but all he could do was curl further into his mother’s chest, sobbing.


	5. v

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY SKZ!! Honestly, it's been a heck of a week (especially with Minho and Hyunjin's pictures coming out, gotta say I had to take a fat second to process them), but it's fine. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and stay safe!! :)) 
> 
> Also, everything is unedited so I apologize for any discrepancies.

Pain was the only thing Minho felt when he came to. He could not feel any of his limbs as each twitch exploded with pain. His only sensation was pain overwhelming his senses. The second thing that came through was the feeling of cool water dripping down his throat. It felt like heaven as the coldness numbed his nerves. With the vision of heaven in his dark mind, clouding the feelings of pain, he fell back into a restless sleep. 

He was brought into a semi-consciousness for a second time with a laugh that could be heard, one that brightened up the room, which also, unfortunately, lit up his intense headache. He grimaced at the pain, unknowingly crinkling up his face. At this, the laughter stopped, and he could hear footsteps pounding to the side of his bed. 

His heart started to beat faster at the thought of having to carry out another robbery, knowing that he had caused too much trouble this time. His mind flashed with the hazy past few days where he was bed-bound, undoubtedly causing Missy and the Captain many robberies not carried out. Heart nearly beating out of his chest, he tried to close his eyes and pretend he was sleeping. 

A gentle, female voice broke through his consciousness, “Baby, I need you to open your eyes, can you do that for me?”

_This doesn’t sound like Missy._

He allowed his eyes to flutter open and he was glad that the windows were drawn. 

_Wait,_

_Windows? His room did not have windows, no matter how much he had begged for them, Missy would keep insisting they could not afford it, despite them having it in her and the Captain’s shared bedroom, and it was not until she kicked him to the ground that he stopped._

He was met with warm brown eyes glistening with worry, contrasted with her serious face. She had light wrinkles on her pale skin and looked as if she had been crying as her eyes were red and swollen. Minho did not know how to react as no one had ever shed tears in front him before. Everyone in his life were unbreakable boulders who he was forced to bounce around, their sharp shards piercing his skin and forcing him to cry. That’s when his eyes caught a glimpse of her crown peeking up from a bundle of black hair. That’s when it all registered in his mind, _SHE IS THE QUEEN_

He immediately tried to sit up on his bed, the intense amount of bandages stopping him, as his mind screamed at him- _you are so disrespectful, they finally turned you in, they don’t want you anymore, you are a burden, a mistake, the queen has now come to see you before you are going to be sent to be executed, and you can’t even sit up to greet her_. 

Without even realizing it, tears streamed down his face, dripping onto the expensive sheets- _he can’t afford to get it dirty_ \- and he struggled to sit up, his bandaged arm coming up to his face in an attempt to wipe his tears when the queen stopped him with a gentle hand catching his own. 

“Please, don’t do that, it will only pull open your injuries,” 

Minho attempted to speak to the queen and return her sentiment, but the only thing that came out was an ugly croak and he wanted the floor to swallow him right then and there. He sounded like a frog in front of the _queen_. He wanted to cry again. 

“I know this all feels very unfamiliar to you, but I promise I can explain, please drink this,” she tipped an ice cold glass of water between his lips and Minho had never been so grateful for a person but he knew this was the calm before the storm. 

“Alright, now don’t freak out, but you are actually my son, and if you did not figure out already, I am the queen-” Minho felt his head throb at the thought of him being a prince “- do you know the story of the lost prince? Prince Lino?” Minho nodded despite his headache, “That’s you, my boy.”

Minho’s mind went wild, _he was the lost prince? The gorgeous baby that everyone had spent months to find? Why was he such a failure? He couldn’t even keep his parents around, they had to lose him to find solitude and peace, Missy and the Captain had to take care of him and even then, they gave him back because he was a terrible child._

“This-” a strong-looking boy with gentle eyes, fluffy black hair, and an expensive collar came up to the side of the bed, “- is your brother, Prince Chan.” The boy waved, shyly, with a bright smile that put Minho’s heart at ease. 

“I need to get the doctor, but you can talk to Chan, sweetie,” after gently petting his hair, she got up and left the room. 

Minho looked at Chan, the bright eyes staring back at him with worry, “are you okay, little brother?” Minho looked away, unable to take the pity, but the boy would not give up, taking a step closer to his bed and taking his hand, gently stroking the back of his hand, “I know we don’t know each other well but I know that we well become the best of friends! Oooh, I know what we can do, we can tell each other about ourselves. I’ll go first, my name is Chan, full name is Bang Chan. I am 15 years old and going to be the next king. My personal knight is Changbin, my best friend, and his brother Jisung, the cutest baby in the world. He is 12 and a ball of energy, I think you guys will get along really well! We love playing together and goofing around in the castle. You will love it here, we have many many maids and guards, tons of bedrooms, and lots of delicious food. I think you are really going to love your bedroom! It might be a little childish for you but maids can probably clean it up today, but we play there all the time so we can always hang out there!” Chan was getting more and more excited as he kept talking, his rambling getting louder and louder. 

Minho could feel an inkling of a smile form on his face, a weird feeling as he used to get beat for smiling, as it was a symbol of defiance, “My….name is Minho. I…..come from...the village. I never knew my parents, but I guess I know now. Since I can remember, I was raised by Missy and the Captain. Our….main means of making money was going to different markets and causing a ruckus, which then allowed the Captain to go and steal food. I always hated this because I would get captured by the police and beaten.” Minho curled into himself as he remembered his past and shuddered. Chan was crying listening to his baby brother’s ordeals, he delicately put his arms around his head, stroking his brother’s stiff limbs. 

Unbeknownst to both of them, the queen had heard the exchange and was silently sobbing outside the door, heart hurting at what her baby had to face at the hands of the monsters of the village. 

\----------------

It was the first day Minho was allowed out of the hospital bed after a week, and he was frightened. The days in the bed were like a dream, delicacies that he could not name, endless treatments that kept him in a haze, and expensive stuffing around every part of his body. However, he knew that this dream was not going to last long and he was going to have to pay off the debt of the treatments. He kept expecting Missy and the Captain to storm in and yank him off the bed and report him to the sheriffs for another beating for putting them through unnecessary struggles. Despite this, thought, Minho knew he could keep living this dream of a life, far from his old life of pain and torture. 

“Is this Prince Lino?” A hyper squirrel-like boy bounced up to him, causing Minho to hide behind Chan. After some discussion, the royal family decided that they would keep Minho’s name as Minho, and not force him to change his name to Lino, to avoid confusion, after all, that was all they could do to them after abandoning him. They had decided to go on a walk to the garden and meet Chan’s friends that he could not stop talking about. 

“Jisung, his name is Prince Minho, please be respectful. You are older than him, please take care of him,” Chan warned, voice low with the hint of a threat.   
“Oh! Then that means I am your hyung, Prince Minho! Wait! That means I can be your knight!” 

“My...what?”

“Your knight! Yeah! All the princes have one! Chan hyung’s is my brother, Changbin hyung. Oh my gosh, that means that everything I have been learning from Changbin hyung has paid off!” Chan chuckled at the excited little boy, the excitement lighting up his dark eyes. 

“What did you learn from Changbin hyung?” Changbin’s voice pierced through the lovely air and a boy only a tad bit shorter than Chan appeared from a building. He was wearing simple clothes with expensive-looking embellishments, embellishments that were far less royal-looking than Minho’s own clothes. 

“Minho, this is my personal knight and best friend Changbin,”

“Wha-What do personal knights do?”

“Oh, not much at the moment because in the future, he will become my bodyguard and protect me at all times, but right now, he tries to be as involved in my life as possible, hehe, and he’s been my best friend since basically birth.”

“Yes, yes, so basically, Minho, I’m just always in your business and I am your bestest friend ever! Anyways, let me show you my wooden knights figure collection, I promise you will love them!” Jisung ran up and pulled at Minho’s hand, pulling him towards a different building, laughing when the boy stumbled but helping him up worriedly when he fell down. 

Chan and Changbin smiled, knowing that they would become the best of friends and that Minho was finally free from his horrendous previous life. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of the storm.


	6. vi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM STILL ALIVE DONT WORRY. I've just been having such a long writer's block but I was able to churn out a little of this chapter each day. Sorry if it sucks and its short, it's kinda a filler chapter.

“Prince Minho, the queen requests your presence in her room,” a servant exclaimed quietly to the playing boys. It’s been a week since Minho has come to the palace and he had been hoping the dream wouldn’t end and he’d been staring at the door, hoping the Captain wouldn’t storm into the doors and snatch him back to the village. Minho was enjoying his life here as he had basically three brothers who cared deeply about his well being, which is three more than there ever was as the people in the village regarded him as a troubled child, one that could not be curbed and therefore deserved his punishments. He couldn’t help but feel fear rise in his chest as he walked over to the queen’s room, scared that she would send him back. 

Three loud knocks at the door of the queen’s bedroom by the servant who accompanied him awoke him from his daydream. “Come in,” the queen’s gentle voice broke through his thoughts, and the servant cracked open the door, allowing Minho to go in. 

“Hello, sweetie, I have some things we need to talk about,” 

“Am-am I in trouble?”

Pausing in the middle of fluffing the pillows on the bed to make it more comfortable for the still-injured boy, she turned to him, “of course not, I just need to talk about what those people have been doing to you,”

Minho froze in his spot, mind whirling with thoughts- _what if she hates me after this, what if she makes me go back because she’s so disgusted, what if I have to see them again_. Seeing his distress, the queen guided him to sit on her bed.

He had never seen a bed like this, so big that it could fit four of his old beds easily, he had never seen so many pillows in one place and he didn’t understand the need for the numerous embellishments and patterns on a blanket. He’d only had one blanket his entire life and when it would rip from daily wear and tear, he had to steal some thread and needle to sew it back together. 

“Minho sweetie, are you okay?” 

Snapping back from his daydream and allowing his butt to linger over the luxurious bed, Minho replied, “y-yeah, fine.”

“You can sit, you know, this is your house and I’m so sorry it took us so long to get to you but I swear, I swear,” her hands tightened around his own, “that we will never let you go again,”

Minho could feel tears welling up in his eyes but refused to let them fall, he had cried the first few days he was there but he was 11 now, not some measly 10 year old anymore who sniffled about everything. 

“Baby, now, would it be alright if you told me about your life with the Captain? We need to see what charges we can press against them,” 

“Will-will they be killed?” 

“We...we don’t know about that. It depends on what they did to you.” 

Minho couldn’t help but curl into a ball, “no, they can’t. They can’t die because of me. It’s not worth it. Captain...captain and Missy said they….they were. No. I...i can’t do this.” 

“Sweetie, you need to speak up. No one can understand you if you are muttering. You need to sit up straight and talk clearly, that’s what a prince is supposed to do,” 

_“You need to to be faster. We can't afford to have you hesitate again and cause a scene. It was too short a time for us to get the food we needed.” Missy tossed Minho’s ripped clothes haphazardly onto the dining room table. She knew the blood on his clothes would drip onto the table, leaving a mark that she would later force him to scrub off._

_Minho was nursing a long bruise in his back from the long stick the merchant whacked him with, that had started to bleed, purposefully ignoring Missy in his own way of a silent rebellion. He hated living with them. He sometimes caught himself daydreaming about what would happen if he was somehow able to make Missy and the Captain disappear. He would be able to finally go out and get a real, paying job, make actual friends who cared about him. If he was lucky enough, maybe one of his new friends’ families would take pity on him and take him in. A warm, comforting meal with a diverse variety of foods on a table made by a loving mom and a kind dad who would sit at the table reading newspapers, making lame jokes and poking fun at the mom as she laughed. A sibling, his friend, who would laugh whenever Minho made a mistake but would always comfort him with a warm hug. He smiled imagining the family, the perfect family that he only saw in the hand-sized little books the merchants he stole from sold on their neatly carved shelves._

_A spatula thrown at him awoke him from his daydreams, giving him a black eye that he covered with one hand._

_“Did you not hear me boy?! You are to be obedient so we can put food on this table or so God help me, I will rip you to shreds!” Missy harshly pushed him back, forcing him to stumble into the wooden table, aggravating his already-injured back._

_“It...it hurts” he whimpered, gripping at his back and the pain vibrating from the wound._

_“Hey you scumbag, you know that if you tell anyone. Anyone! About this, we will hunt you down, and kill you, I don’t care where you are. We. Will. Always. Find. You.” Missy picked up her spatula that was laying on the ground._

_“And kill you” the spatula in her hand was slammed down on the counter, making him flinch._

Minho quickly wiped the tears from his eyes with the backs of his hands. 

“Sweetie? You need to tell adults what happened in that terrible place,” the queen’s voice was gentle but sharp. 

At the sharp edge in her voice, Minho couldn’t hold back his onslaught of tears; he started sobbing uncontrollably. The queen quickly pulled him into her arms but Minho was scared, he felt trapped, like he had in his all-too-familiar jail cell that he was threw into at least once a month, each time wondering if his terrible parents had finally stopped caring. Minho pushed her away and curling in on himself. The queen, at a loss for words, asked for her son, who, after a few moments, ran into the room and upon seeing the tiny form of his little brother, knelt by his bench. 

“Hey Minho, it’s okay. You are at the castle now, you aren’t with them anymore, those horrible horrible people,” Minho looked up, confused and teary. 

“Yeah, sweetie, that’s right, you didn’t deserve that. They were in the wrong. We will never hurt you, and we will never let them hurt you ever again. Is that okay?” Minho uncurled a little more at those words, sobs stuck in his throat, staring at his big brother with wide eyes. He nodded slowly. 

“You are doing great baby, now you must be tired. Is it okay if I touch you and take you back to bed?” Minho nodded again, sticking his arms out like a baby to try and reach his older brother. 

Chan, with great care, scooped up his baby and slowly moved towards the door, shooting a dirty look at his mom. 

The queen was ashamed of herself, she didn’t know how to take care of an emotionally-damaged kid. She wasn’t even fit to be called this kid’s mother after she abandoned him after she herself gave up. If there was going to be growth though, she knew it was going to be from her because she knew that she needed to serve those foster parents what they had coming for them for mistreating an heir of the royal throne. She gritted her teeth, she will find them.


End file.
